Mariel took a deep drag. “We were going to run away together. I mean, that’s what he said. Go somewhere where they wouldn’t even know I was Fallen, wouldn’t recognize the Mark for what it was. He promised.” She waved her hand, brushing the smoke away. “I know what you’re going to say. I sound like a lovestruck fool. But I wanted it, Celeste. I wanted it!” She slammed her hand against the bench. “Not just him but everything he could give me. A new life in a new place, performing on a big stage, not just the same old thing at the Eden every night. But then I found out I was pregnant. At first, he was supportive, saying it was all daisies, but then he stopped coming around so often. Well, I wasn’t going to be tossed aside, so I did a little asking around.”

“His wife,” Celeste said. “And Tabor, his business partner.”

“That’s right,” Mariel said. “I didn’t rat him out, just did some inquiring.”

“They knew what you were about.”

Mariel shrugged. “Bully for them. If he was going to ruin me, well, two could play at that game. But then he showed up in some devilish costume on Aventum, so I snuck him into the back, no one the wiser, Hypatia too busy holding court to notice. I thought maybe he’d come around, and things would be all right after all. And at first, it looked like I was right. He was passionate and demanding, like always. But after, we’re lying there, my skirts barely straight, and he tells me it’s over. Tells me I shouldn’t have gone running my mouth like I had, and he’s a doctor, so here’s an abortive”—her honey-ringed eyes flared bright with hate—“and I should take it. Told me that once the baby was gone, I shouldn’t bother him anymore and that he never wanted to see me again!” She pressed a hand to her belly. She had not started to show yet, but Celeste had no doubt she carried Daniel’s child.

“So you killed him?”

She lifted her chin. “That was just the side effect. I took his manhood.”

“Saints and sinners, Mariel.”

“I don’t regret it.” Her bright eyes were hard. “Let them kill me for it, those hypocrites. I’ll curse them all the way down to hell.”

Celeste ran her hands over her face. “They’re not going to kill you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve found someone else to pin the murder on.”

Mariel frowned. “Who?”

“Lilitha.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Hypatia’s girl?”

Celeste nodded.

Mariel shifted, uneasy. “I don’t know, Celeste. I never had anything against Lilitha. And Hypatia sure is sweet on her.”

“I said that I’d protect you,” Celeste said fiercely. “This is what it takes.”

“But how? She’ll deny it.”

“Abraxas has compelled her.”